Silver Duke of Edinburgh

• Selina Antunes Trabuco• Sofia Antunes Trabuco• Vicki Clamp• Ellenis Panter• Chloe Wood• VEliza Stokoe

Personal aims:

Sofia- 'to achieve a sense of independence and responsibility whilst improving on my expedition skills.'

Selina – ‘to improve on my cooking skills and to achieve a sense of independence, whilst improving on my teamwork skills.'

Ellenis – ‘to improve taking compass bearings.'

Vicki – ‘to improve my expedition skills like camping, cooking and walking up steep hills.'

Eliza – ‘to improve taking bearings.'

Chloe – ‘to improve on bearing skills.'

Highlights of the weekend

• Day 1: Walked along the quarry, cows ended up blocking our path so we had to go around them. Climbed a steep hill and had lunch at the top. Saw two rainbows.

• Day 2: Started the day with climbing a very steep hill for quite a while. Selina was on a mission while the rest of us slugged through. Battling the rain and wind from 9am to 12pm. Having to wait for our assessor in open land with the wind and rain pummelling us. Played American Football and meditated under a tree.

• Day 3: Climbed up a hill littered with tiny baby snails and little tiny poop pieces. Sang a lot. Climbed up another gradually steep hill, then went down a very steep hill.

• Everyday: We each had a pee in a bush at some point while on our walk.

• Overall: We had a really lovely 3-day weekend.

Improvements needed to make for Gold

• Sofia – 'write up more detailed descriptive notes and escape routes.'

• Selina – ‘work on taking real-life bearings.'

• Ellenis – ‘better descriptive notes to help us for gold.'

Vicki – ‘practice compass bearings.'

Eliza – ‘ I could pace myself better at walking.'

Chloe - 'pack lighter, so reduce what I carry, to make walking easier.'

General Information of where we went:

• Ridgeway• Britain's oldest road• Used since prehistoric times by travelers, soldiers, and herdsmen.• Ridgeway is 87 miles long and passes through down land, secluded

valleys and woodland.• The National Trail goes from Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire,

Oxfordshire, Swindon, West Berkshire, all the way to Wiltshire.• There are now several nature reserves rich in wildlife found in these

chalk grassland habitats.• The National Trail is very well-marked so is easy to follow, but a map

does come in handy.

General information of where we went:

• Lambourne Downs• Located in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wilkshire.• The Lambourne Downs are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of

Outstanding Natural Beauty.• They go from the Ridgeway to the River Kennet and cover an area of

600km².• The high ground was originally only used for breeding sheep and horses as

the chalky soil couldn't be used for growing crops until modern fertiliserswere introduced.

• Lambrourn Downs is rich in the business of sheep grazing and horse racing.• Uffington Horse is located here and the Ridgeway goes through here.

Comments on food and weight of rucksacks

• Sofia - 'My rucksack was at a reasonable weight but I think my rucksack could have been lighter as I could have brought less clothes and my food choices were all nutritious and I brought the right amount of food but I also could have cooked my own food in the evenings such as pasta and rice, instead of the boil-in-the-bag I had for dinner each night, and use any leftovers as my lunch the next day.'

Vicki - 'My rucksack weight was 13kg but it didn't weigh down on me so much after the first day once I ate some of my food, and I also got the wayfayre meals which were easy to cook, nutritious and a good, filling meal.'

Selina - 'I could have taken less clothes. I could have taken slightly less food, but my food choices were nutritious and I had enough food for each day. I was also nice and warm each day.'

Comment on food and weight of rucksacks

• Chloe-'My rucksack was slightly too heavy but it was bearable so for gold I'll make sure to pack lighter. For food, I cooked extra pasta and rice for dinner which I then put aside for lunch the next day. I found this really helpful as it prevented me from carrying lunch for every day from the start. I also packed quite a right amount of snacks to keep me going through the walk.'

Ellenis- 'Weight of my rucksack was 15kg and went down by 1kg by the end of the three days as I wore my layers and ate my food. I think I had a good weight and good, nutritious food choices.'

Eliza- ' I think I had a good weight as I managed to keep a low weight but still have everything I needed. I had the right amount of food and made my lunches with leftover dinner.'

Parting commentWe've found our Silver Qualifying Expedition to be wonderful. We've made great memories, had a lot of fun, bonded a lot, and just had a really nice time. We faced the rain together but we were all really, mostly warm and filled with food always. We had learnt and developed our expedition skills and have worked really well as friends and as a team. This has been a great three days and we'll remember this forever.